In an IM conversation with a TBM [Mormon] about Hinckley's
[current Mormon prophet] denial of God once being a man, I got the biggest song and dance yet:

kc: Why did he say he "didn't know" that
we teach that?

mormon: He reiterated that he didn't know whether or
not it was being covered at individual Church locations, because though
it isn't covered in universally planed Sunday topics, some people still
discuss other things at Church that aren't on the agenda, but the
President couldn't have been sure of such conditions...

kc: They didn't ask that. They asked if the church as a
whole believes that God was once a man. And we do!

mormon: bI believe that Larry King used the word
"teach" in his question, and not "believe"...

kc: Nitpicky. He was asking what the church doctrine
is, and Hinckley did not take the opportunity to say, yes, this is
truth.

mormon: In cases like this, it becomes necessary to
nitpick. If you look at the Presidents full response, in context, it
makes good sense. And if he felt uncomfortable giving an in-depth
response, then I can see why, on the premise of "milk before
meat." It is no small doctrine of which he spoke...

kc: but he left nonMormons with the impression that
we do NOT believe God was once a man.

mormon: Well, it's too bad if they took it that way,
but he didn't deny having such a belief, and at least the public wasn't
in danger of choking on the meat, so to speak...

Subject:

Morg GA's don't give eccliastical replys to the press, they give
political replies.

Subject:

The church shouldn't worry about non-members "choking on the
meat"....

Date:

Sep 26 16:40

Author:

TheMollusk

....since it's been swallowing crow quite a bit as
of late on many fronts.

Besides, Packer is the only one called of God to be concerned about meat
choking. End of story.

Subject:

It was his intention to deceive and obfuscate.

Date:

Sep 26 18:39

Author:

Segue

He wanted to leave the impression that the church
doesn't teach this doctrine - he lied.

"We can also intentionally deceive others by a gesture or a look,
by silence, or by telling only part of the truth. Whenever we lead
people in any way to believe something that is not true, we are not
being honest. The Lord is not pleased with such dishonesty, and we will
have to account for our lies."

- Official LDS Church website (from the book Gospel Principles)

He did it again here:

Q: “There are some significant differences in your beliefs. For
instance, don't Mormons believe that God was once a man?”
A: “I wouldn't say that. There was a little couplet coined, ‘As man
is, God once was. As God is, man may become.’ Now that's more of a
couplet than anything else. That gets into some pretty deep theology
that we don't know very much about.”
Q: “So you're saying the church is still struggling to understand
this?”
A: “Well, as God is, man may become. We believe in eternal
progression. Very strongly. We believe that the glory of God is
intelligence and whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in
this life, it will rise with us in the Resurrection. Knowledge,
learning, is an eternal thing. And for that reason, we stress education.
We're trying to do all we can to make of our people the ablest, best,
brightest people that we can.”

...and if there is something I detest, it is someone
trying to pull a fast one...attempting to deceive.

If there is anything that really sets my gag reflex off it is this
single issue, that "little couplet" as GBH is fond of
referring to Lorenzo R. Snow's aphorism.

Hinckley knew what he was saying; he is the sharpest pencil in the pack
when it comes to dealing with the press. In fact, GBH is the
"founding father" of the Public Communications Department of
LDS, Incorporated.

The media have been kind and generous to us. This past year of
pioneer celebrations has resulted in very extensive, favorable press
coverage. There have been a few things we wish might have been
different. I personally have been much quoted, and in a few instances
misquoted and misunderstood. I think that's to be expected. None of
you need worry because you read something that was incompletely
reported. You need not worry that I do not understand some matters of
doctrine. I think I understand them thoroughly, and it is unfortunate
that the reporting may not make this clear. I hope you will never
look to the public press as the authority on the doctrines of the
Church.

Now missing is an audio/video file of this talk (they have only of late
started putting both on their website, and it is not available for
purchase via the catalog) because then you get a chance to take on The
Hinckster in all of his glory. As I recall, at the end of the above
quoted paragraph, GBH smiles and lets loose a gentle laugh, with the
live audience following on cue and laughing along with The Hinckster. It
was along the lines of, "those gentile rubes, when are they going
to figure out that they cannot catch me in a lie".

And then last year I believe, Hinckley gave another major interview to
the New Yorker magazine, and again he was asked about that couplet.
Again, the usual... (sorry, I could not dig up the link on that; perhaps
someone else can...).

Bottomline? GBH cannot play it straight and come clean on the long
taught and believed DOCTRINE of the LDS Church that man can become God.
Why? Because they know that to come clean on this would be to expose
themselves as nonchristian according to everything that defines
christianity.

Nothing makes me more angry, with the single exception being their cruel
temple "wedding" policy that excludes all but the most
faithful, about LDS Inc than this single area. And it so typifies the
lies that are peddled to the unsuspecting public, and LDS members as
well. Shame on them; shame on GBH (esp since he seems to know no shame
in this regard).

and here is the relevant section (found starting in the section The
Leader, the 6th paragraph down),

In the Mormon scheme, every person is a potential divinity. The adage
"As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may be"
expresses the Mormon belief that God was once a human being, with a wife
and children. But Hinckley did not seem interested in discussing matters
of theology. When I asked him to characterize God's connubial
relationship, he replied, "We don't speculate on that a lot.
Brigham Young
said if you went to Heaven and saw God it would be Adam and Eve. I don't
know what he meant by that." Pointing to a grim-faced portrait of
the Lion of the Lord, as Young was called, he said, "There he is,
right there. I'm not going to worry about what he said about those
things."

I asked whether Mormon theology was a form of polytheism.

"I don't have the remotest idea what you mean," he said
impatiently.

"More than one god."

"Yes, but that's a very loose term," he replied. "We
believe in eternal progression." By that he meant that human beings
can evolve toward godhood by following the Mormon path. "You want
to be a reporter always?" he said. "You want to be a scrub
forever, through all eternity? We believe that life, eternal life, is
real, that it's purposeful, that it has meaning, that it can be
realized. I wouldn't describe us as polytheistic."

Ok, would anyone, like Randy J., chime in now with all the OFFICIAL
teachings of the LDS Church on this?

Pericles

Subject:

and Clinton didn't have sexual relations either...

Date:

Sep 27 09:00

what amazes me is that TBMs most of whom are GOP and
hate Clinton for his transgressions don't see the similarity in response

(for the record I don't care about the man's personal life, but I detest
being lied to)
Diane

Subject:

GBH has said he doesn't know MANY TIMES...

Date:

Sep 27 09:18

Author:

Deconstructor

"I beg of you, my brethren and sisters, to bear
in mind the solemn fact that the same divine authority, the same
inspiration that came from God, our Father, which enabled the Prophet
Joseph Smith to speak of the future history of this work, is with the
Israel of God today. A Prophet of God stands in the midst of the
people now, clothed upon with every gift, key, power, and authority,
that was given to the Prophet Joseph Smith, and that same inspiration,
that same power to penetrate the future, to comprehend the purposes of
the Almighty, is with the Priesthood that is in our midst today. ...
There should be no questioning of the wisdom of the counsel that is
imparted by the servants of the Lord; but, rather, we should look
back over the history of this people and endeavor to understand what has
been accomplished under the direction of this authority, and when we
comprehend the marvelous character of that history, we will feel in our
hearts to trust the God of heaven, and in trusting our Father in heaven,
we honor His Priesthood on earth, and faithfully strive to carry, out
the counsel of that Priesthood."
- Elder Joseph W. McMurrin, General Conference, April 1902

Behold the words of the Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley!

"Now we are at war. Great forces have been mobilized and will
continue to be. Political alliances are being forged. We do not know
how long this conflict will last. We do not know what it will cost in
lives and treasure. We do not know the manner in which it will be
carried out. It could impact the work of the Church in various ways."

"No one knows how long it will last. No one knows precisely
where it will be fought. No one knows what it may entail before it is
over. We have launched an undertaking the size and nature of which we
cannot see at this time."

"I do not know what the future holds. I do not wish to sound
negative, but I wish to remind you of the warnings of scripture and the
teachings of the prophets which we have had constantly before us."

"Now, I do not wish to be an alarmist. I do not wish to be a
prophet of doom. I am optimistic. I do not believe the time is here
when an all-consuming calamity will overtake us. I earnestly pray that
it may not. There is so much of the Lord’s work yet to be done. We,
and our children after us, must do it. I can assure you that we who are
responsible for the management of the affairs of the Church will be
prudent and careful as we have tried to be in the past. The tithes of
the Church are sacred."

- Gordon B. Hinckley, “The Times in Which We Live,” October 2001
General Conference (Ensign, Nov. 2001, Page 72)

"I hope that prayer will take on a new luster in our lives. None
of us knows what lies ahead. We may speculate, but we do not know."
- Gordon B. Hinckley, “Till We Meet Again,” Ensign, Nov. 2001, Page
89

"Brigham Young said if you went to Heaven and saw God it would be
Adam and Eve. I don't know what he meant by that." Pointing
to a grim-faced portrait of the Lion of the Lord, as Young was called,
Hinckley said, "There he is, right there. I'm not going to worry
about what he said about those things." I asked whether Mormon
theology was a form of polytheism. "I don't have the remotest
idea what you mean," Hinckley said impatiently.
- Hinckley Interview in "Lives of the Saint", New Yorker,
January 2002http://www.newyorker.com/PRINTABLE/?fact/020121fa_FACT1

"Beyond the wonderful and descriptive words found in sections 76
and 137 [D&C 76; D&C 137] we know relatively little
concerning the celestial kingdom and those who will be there. At
least some of the rules of eligibility for acceptance into that
kingdom are clearly set forth, but other than that, we are given
little understanding."

"The next question you ask is why Eve was created from Adam. I
can only respond that an all-wise Creator did it that way...."

"Now, Virginia, you call attention to the statement in the
scriptures that Adam should rule over Eve. (See Gen. 3:16.) You ask why
this is so. I do not know."

"You ask whether men are more important than women. I am going
to turn that question back to you. Would any of us be here, either
men or women, without the other?"
- Gordon B. Hinckley, “Daughters of God,” Ensign, Nov. 1991, Page
97

"Question: There are some significant differences in your beliefs
[and other Christian churches]. For instance, don't Mormons believe that
God was once a man? Hinckley: I wouldn't say that. There was a little
couplet coined, "As man is, God once was. As God is, man may
become." Now that's more of a couplet than anything else. That gets
into some pretty deep theology that we don't know very much about."
- Interviewing Gordon B. Hinckley, San Francisco Chronicle, April 13,
1997, p 3/Z1

"Question: Until 1978 no person of color attained the priesthood in
your church. Why it took so long time to overcome the racism? Hinckley: I
don’t know. I don’t know. I can only say that. But it’s here
now. We’re carrying on a very substantial work on Africa for instance
and in Brazil. We’re working among their people developing them."
- Interview Jan 29th, 2002 conducted by reporter Helmut Nemetschek,
ZDF television, Germany, at Salt Lake City, Utah, in the Church
Administration Building.http://www.mormonismi.net/artikkelit/hinckley_video.html

"Is this the teaching of the church today, that God the Father was
once a man like we are? Hinckley: I don't know that we teach it. I
don't know that we emphasize it. I haven't heard it discussed for a
long time in public discourse. I don't know. I don't know all the
circumstances under which that statement was made. I understand the
philosophical background behind it. But I don't know a lot about it
and I don't know that others know a lot about it."
- Interviewing Gordon B. Hinckley, Time Magazine, Aug 4, 1997http://home.teleport.com/~packham/gbh-god.htm

TBMs can't squirm out of it. Their leader is acting like a CEO, not a
prophet.